Still need to work out how you go evil. Not to mention you won't get a big debut until chapter 21 or so..._________________Now Watching: KR: Wizard, Kuuga and Faiz. SS: Kyoryuger, Dairanger and Jetman. Other: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

The next five days went by in a blur. After much searching, they had finally managed to find Simon and forced him to be the Yellow Ranger. Of course, they didn’t have to do much forcing anyway – he was coming to grips with not being Red. He still had to work some problems out, but on the whole, he was becoming better integrated.

Weihan’s relationship with Ronny skyrocketed literally overnight – they were never seen without the other. Word in the base was that they hadn’t slept together yet – that they he was waiting for a good time to “pop her cherry”

Reality couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Out of the three active Rangers, Ronny was the one with the most experience – battle-wise. She lead the two recruits through endless drills, combat sims and training programs – hoping to boost their combat abilities. For his part, Weihan was working around the clock to ensure that the Zords were fully completed – weapons were primed and ready and the Megazord sequence was coded properly.

When they did have free time together, they were so exhausted from their preparations that they would just slump on the lounge and not move – sometimes for hours at a time. They hugged and kissed each other, but Public Displays of Affection were limited, due to their work hours and zones.

More worrying was Simon’s changing attitude. He had resigned himself to being the bearer of the Yellow Powers, but had started to act out on his own. During the combat simulations, he would always be the one to fight off hordes of solid 3D holo-projections – while not at all helping his team-mates. Weihan had taken his aside after each training sim and lectured him about the safety of himself and his team.

Simon had shrugged off the harsh criticisms and promised to do better the next time – which he never seemed to do. Weihan had figured that he would wait for Simon to make a mistake, and then leave him to pick up the pieces himself. The problem was that they didn’t have too much time left before Drakor attacked – judging by the massive energy surges they had picked up.

Weihan didn’t know what Drakor was doing. From the information that he had gathered, he knew that Drakor was an excellent strategist and tactician. He would find one fatal flaw or fear, and fling it in the faces of his enemies. That was one of the reasons that he was so feared in his time – that he knew exactly what would cripple his enemies – leaving them defenceless to his claws.

Spurex was a different story. From what he had gathered from Rangers who had fought against him, he was much like Ecliptor and Villamax – having a strong sense of honour against those he fought against. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, but he wasn’t about to take that chance during battle. If what he had heard through his “contacts”, Spurex had actually supervised the construction of Ecliptor and pushed for the machine to feel emotions.

Even more disturbing than Spurex’s so-called heart or Simon’s selfish behaviour were the oddities of Pie_Masta. The recruit seemed to spend all of her time hanging around the labs – hoping to catch glimpses of the newly minted Rangers in action. Of course, Weihan couldn’t fault that – he himself spent a lot of time in the labs as well…watching Ronny of course. But, Pie_Masta kept hanging around the morpher testing sites.

Strangely, she kept writing notes down on a pad and watching the clock…almost as if she was planning for something. Neither Weihan nor Ronny knew what she was planning, but they chalked up her odd behaviour to a side project.

Finally, their luck ran out. The tell-tale shrieking of the alarm awoke Weihan from a restful slumber – the first in a few days. He barely registered the sound, before his attention was drawn to the peaceful form on his chest. Ronny had unexpectedly shown up at his door the previous night – claiming that she wanted to spend time with him.

He had, of course, welcomed her presence – it had soothed his inner turmoil. He had of course told her about his Ultra Crystal and its role in powering the generators, morphers and Zords. She had agreed that using it was better than using the base’s own power – it was more reliable and there was less chance of causing a major blackout. In return, she had told him about her half relationship with Tyzonne – including the fact that they had parted on bad terms.

She hoped to never again return to Earth – as Tyzonne would always be there. She had confided to Weihan that Tyzonne was dominating and aggressive in whom she saw or talked to. She had explained that the attraction was only one way – which she hadn’t felt anything except friendship towards him. They had never kissed – not even once – or done any of the dating “norms”.

Weihan had silently promised that – if he ever returned to his home planet – he would make Tyzonne pay dearly for upsetting Ronny. Mercurian or no, he was going down. Ronny had talked him down from cold blooded murder to light bruising with minor bleeding.

He hated to wake her from her slumber – she looked so peaceful. Her light brown hair was fanned out around her head and she had a slight smile on her face. He wondered what she was dreaming about – whatever it was, it had been better than the nightmare he was having. It didn’t make sense – Dryken, Mig and Benglo were dead.

Dryken had met his end at the claws of his Spinozord and the two Fearcats had died after a long battle with the DriveMax Ultrazord. He marvelled at her ability to sleep through alarms – the siren had been wailing for a good five minutes now and she showed no sign of stirring. Finally, he lightly touched her shoulder with his right arm, causing her to slowly awake from her sleep.

She winced as she heard the ear-splitting shriek – cutting through her post-sleep fog effortlessly. Her dreams had been of herself and Weihan, together on Earth – living happily. She frowned for a split second – trying to remember the very last part of her dream. She had seen two figures that looked like the Fearcats…but that was impossible.

She had seen to it herself that they were now nothing more than dust. She couldn’t shake that all-too-real fear that they were alive. She was prepared for them now, though. She had new powers and they were more charged up than the Overdrive Yellow powers had ever been.

She forced those thoughts to the back of her mind as she abruptly sat up – almost colliding foreheads with Weihan. The previous few days had also been a goldmine for Sha’Kahr hunters as the aliens erected sprawling fortresses…that didn’t last too long after a concentrated Gatlinger assault. That had sent Black Market prices skyrocketing.

Hurriedly, they dressed in their Ranger rank uniforms – which were leather jackets in their colour over whatever they were wearing at the time. Since Ronny was wearing one of Weihan’s borrowed shirts and boxer shorts, it would certainly cause a stir in the recruits. She hastily threw on a pair of white dress slacks and her jacket and looked at Weihan expectantly. He had slept in his uniform jacket and was smoothing out the wrinkles. He looked at her and smiled, before taking her hand and walking out the door.

When they reached the main room, it was a tornado of shouts, orders and incomprehensible words. On three of the consoles, Weihan could spot the forms of wannabe121, dhillon85 and TOOL yelling orders to their units on the surface. Judging from the way they were drenched in sweat, they were in an intense battle against the Sha’Kahr base.

He saw Simon and Kat talking to each other – which was heart-warming. It told him that Simon was finally interacting with his team-mates. Then, a scream split the air. He looked around for the source. Strangely, Pie_Masta was pointing up at the main screen with a look of terror on her face. Weihan whirled to face the screen…and felt the blood drain from his face.

On the screen was a bipedal creature that was similar to an upright alligator. It was clad in a strange set of samurai armour and was clutching a long sword in its right claw. Every step the beast took seemed to echo in the now-silent room. Weihan staggered back, leaning heavily against a console, his face pale and drenched in a cold sweat. Ronny went to his side and murmured in his ear.

“It can’t be him, Wei. It just can’t be. You saw it – he was destroyed before.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Weihan’s voice was flat, but filled with dread and fear. He wished that his crystal wasn’t powering the generators. His Rangers weren’t ready to fight…him. They had to though. As they watched, several metallic forms shimmered into existence behind the monster. They had the appearance of skeletons – with large skull-shaped helmets with black visors. In their hands, they held large, serrated blades.

They were Quantrons – the elitist forces of Astronema and the now-dead Dark Spectre. His face lost all trace of fear – replaced by grim determination. Ronny took one look at her boyfriend’s face and nodded once.

She felt Simon and Kat fall into formation behind her. With an unspoken nod of agreement, they thrust their right hand behind their backs, feeling their TW Trackers materialise out of thin air. Grasping her fingers around the metal box, Ronny gave Weihan a small grin and was rewarded by a nod. She held up the morpher at a 45 degree angle and said one word.

“Ready!”

In a near-replication of her Overdrive morph, she – along with Simon and Kat – swung the tracker to her left shoulder, pressing two buttons along the side as she did so. The words came unbidden – coming up from the information dump that the Power provided.

“TinyWarz – Accelerate!”

She brought up her left arm horizontally, fist stretched outward, the top of her arm acting as a flat surface for the morph. Then, she quickly spun the flywheel against her upper arm, as she moved the morpher down the length of her arm.

In a burst of colour, sparks and light, the three TinyWarz Rangers stood in the centre of the room – armour gleaming brightly. Ronny saw Weihan smile brilliantly at her – and flushed as his eyes trailed the length of her body. He knew they were ready to fight, to save lives – to be heroes.

As they teleported off to face the Quantrons, he hoped that they were able to work cohesively. To put aside all attitude problems, negative thoughts and selfish behaviour to fight and win.

Simon couldn’t believe the Power rush. It felt like his entire body was alight – strange, exciting and scary all at once. He felt as though he could rip through Flostin’s army single-handedly. It almost made up for him being Yellow…a colour that he hated with a passion. He hated the fact that he was overlooked while some chick with a nice ass got promoted over him. Sure, he could kind of see where his arrogance had gotten him – but wasn’t arrogance a good leadership trait? All thoughts were banished to the back of his head as his feet touched the ground. Standing in front of them was the same reptilian beast they had seen on the monitors. He touched the right side of his helmet softly – his voice soft.

“So, what’s the plan, fearless leader?”

Ronny shot him a glare – visible even from behind her visor. She could not believe that he was so cocky. She had to watch him carefully. She shook herself, feeling the TW Power run through her. Unlike the others, she had had morphing experience before, but nothing had come close to the depth of Power that was flowing through her. She briefly wondered if Mack had felt the same level of Power – since he was also a Red, but then thought about it. Last night, Weihan had told her – exclusively – that their Powers were fuelled by his Ultra Crystal. The same Ultra Crystal that had fuelled four teams and their Zords. The same Ultra Crystal that could not be permanently drained of its power. The same Crystal that had a direct link to the Morphin Grid on Earth. The same Ultra Crystal which – if needed – could generate its own Morphin Grid.

The creature in front of her made her thoughts pause. She had seen this horrid beast once – and she swore she had seen it destroyed. But, here it was – in front of her eyes and still looking as terrible as it had looked. It was Dryken. The beast that had forced the Orange Ranger to come out of his self-imposed retirement. The same beast that had allowed her to meet Weihan for the first time. The same monster who had drained their Overdrive Powers, scanned their memories…and learnt their names. She knew that the creature in front of her knew everything about her…well, up to the point where Weihan had seemingly destroyed it. She stood her ground – firmly. She would not allow the monster in front of her to get any advantage. When she spoke, her voice was strong and determined.

“How the hell did you survive? Weihan blasted you into bite-sized chunks!”

The creature laughed – a harsh, guttural sound that chilled the Rangers to the core. He knew what the Yellow-turned-Red had thought she had seen. It was time to revel one of his secrets…the other one would have to wait for now. He spoke in a raspy voice – choppy and slightly distorted, but with a sharp undertone of malice.

“You foolish Ranger. You think everything in front of you is reality. That what was destroyed before was my real being? The Orange one did not vanquish my true self. He killed a twin…yes. A twin.”

Behind her helmet, Kat frowned. What was this creature talking about? Who was he – it – and why did Ronny know about him? Who was the Orange one? She didn’t know the answers to the questions, but it seemed as though Ronny or Weihan might. She glanced at Simon and felt a light blush come over her cheeks. When they had been talking, he seemed so animated – so full of love for life…but after they had morphed – he had become a totally different person. She knew that she had a major crush on him, but she also knew that he harboured strong feelings for Ronny as well. She hadn’t said anything yet to Weihan – hoping that Simon would get over his infatuation. Instead, it seemed as though his feelings were getting stronger – something Kat couldn’t understand.

Suddenly, without any warning, the Quantrons rushed at them – blades held high. Ronny flipped over to a group of them and started defending herself. She wished that they had personal side arms – like the Drive Defenders, but she knew something better was in the works. She heard yells as Kat and Simon tore into their attackers with a mixture of moves. Aligning herself to the ground, Ronny focused her powers through her right leg – and then unleashed a vicious roundhouse. The energy wave tore through their metallic bodies – reducing them to scrap metal. In the blink of an eye, the scrap metal disappeared. Ronny frowned under her helmet. Wasn’t the retrieval of fallen remains supposed to happen after they won? As she fought the remaining Quantrons, a disturbing sight caught her eye.

Simon was destroying Quantrons left and right. This in itself wasn’t a bad thing, but he was ignoring the cries of Kat as he ripped through their ranks. The petite Black Ranger was slowly being overwhelmed by the mindless foot soldiers. Even with the Power telling her what to do, she was being defeated. Simon didn’t even blink as four Quantrons rushed his team-mate, blades at the ready. He didn’t react as he heard the piercing scream or the explosion as the Black Ranger explosively demorphed behind him. His gaze was firm, battle ready and hard. He was a whirlwind of energy – and the best part of it was that he didn’t have to listen to anyone.

***
Weihan stared at the screen in shock. Simon had disobeyed his rules and orders again – but this time it would have consequences. He wiped his face with the palm of his hand and screamed in frustration, sending the chief technician – a young Asian man called seanymemory – into minor shock. Quickly, he glanced to the item on the teleportation pedestal. Once it was initiated, the object would be absorbed into the Morphin Grid and sent to the Ranger associated with it. He quickly patched his microphone into Ronny’s helmet system. His voice was tired and worn.

“Ronny. You know what to do. I’m sending you something that will help you greatly. Reds deserve swords after all”

He grinned weakly to himself and nodded once to seanymemory. The Asian man pressed a combination of buttons – sending the object to Weihan’s girlfriend.
***
Ronny heard Weihan’s words and grinned. She was ready for whatever he would give her. She didn’t have to wait long. Somewhere between wrenching off a Quantron’s arms and punching a chest in, she felt the familiar tingle at the back of her mind. For a split second, an image popped up on her visor’s display – permanently imprinting the weapon into her brain. She grinned, but then shot a worried look over to Kat. The Black Ranger was unmorphed and lying face down. Around her lay charred metal parts – Quantrons who were unlucky enough to be caught in the explosive Power backlash. She knew that she had to end this battle fast if Kat was to survive.

She flipped over to Simon and forcibly grabbed the back of his neck – stopping him in his tracks. Then, to the absolute shock and confusion of Dryken, she drug the protesting Yellow Ranger to where their fallen comrade was. Ronny released Simon and shook her head at him. She was pissed at him, but Weihan was first in line to rip into him. She would have to be content with what was left. Closing her eyes, she focused on her right hand and the weapon that Weihan had given her. Feeling it materialise, she drew in a deep breath and shouted out its name.

“War Sword!”

In a crimson flash, the sword appeared in her hand. The blade was about the length of her lower arm, with a red and yellow handle. Embedded on the handle – strangely – was a series of five buttons. She wondered what they were used for – but told herself to find out later. Emblazoned on the sword’s guard was the TinyWarz Rangers symbol – Andrew Hartford’s Operation Overdrive compass on top of a flaming V. Ronny made a mental note to ask Weihan about why the overdrive symbol kept appearing. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

As the creatures and Quantrons stood there in shock, she took another moment to closely examine the blade. It was leaf shaped – elegant and graceful – with the width of the blade the size of her wrist. Strangely enough, there was no fuller – only the central ridge that extended outwards from the guard. She could feel the amount of Power coming from the sword – as well as a touch of Fire Power. She grinned and locked eyes with Dryken.

She tightened her grip on the sword – permanently linking it with her Powers. As if in response, the blade glowed a brilliant Red. She took a step towards the assembled villains before breaking out into a dead run. Swinging the blade, she was rewarded with a sharp hiss as the energised blade cleaved five Quantrons in half.

Ducking a poor swipe, she stabbed the blade into the ground and tapped the first button she had felt on the grip. The ground rumbled once as four plumes of fire shot up – instantly incinerating the Quantrons. Ronny grinned and chuckled at the sight. Of course Weihan would find a way to include a fire-based attack. She voiced this to Weihan, who laughed out loud – scaring Pie_Masta who was behind him.

“Yeah, you caught me out. Now, finish the job!”

At that command, Ronny pulled the War Sword out of the ground and held it high. She saw that it was not cracked and the blade shone as brilliantly as ever. She brought it down and pressed the final button. The War Sword crackled with red, yellow and orange lightning as it powered up. Dryken gulped, but held his ground. He was freaked out – that was true. When Drakor had told him what he needed to do, he had thought of it as a minor annoyance. Now, he felt otherwise. He was just glad that he had managed to gain the trust of the feline beings that awaited him in Drakor’s lair. They would help him no matter what happened…

Ronny smirked. The Power of the War Sword was amazing – but she had to finish up. Kat’s life hung in the balance and Evil wasn’t playing games any more. Holding the sword, she rotated it around in a clockwise direction – starting from the 10 o’clock position. She was aware of the Overdrive symbol appearing – but without the flaming V. She knew what she had to do.

As the blade reached the end of its circle, she slashed down diagonally right. She could see the energy trail gleaming in the sunlight. As soon as her blade hit the ground, she whipped it up again and slashed the air again – this time going diagonally left, thus creating the flaming V. She didn’t have time to act, because as soon as the two lines connected, the energy shot out, hitting the Quantrons and Dryken head on.

In an explosion to rival Kat’s forceful dimorph, the Quantrons were obliterated. Dryken was leaning heavily on his sword and breathing shallowly. He lifted his head to stare menacingly at Ronny. He smiled and nodded once – his weak, but powerful, voice echoing through the strangely silent plain.

“Well done little Ranger. It seems as though you have grown in Power. Your boyfriend must be pleased with you.”

He breathed in deeply – almost choking. He would heal soon enough – but it would hurt. He stood up straighter and chuckled again.

“The battle is yours. You have won this first fight. When we next meet, you will not be so lucky.”

With those words, the alligator mutant vanished. Ronny sighed, then looked back at Kat’s unmoving form. They had won…but at what price?

Whoo...Don't read if you have problems with visions of apocalyptic futures.

Chapter 8 – Repercussions.

Weihan was livid. The Rangers had just returned to the base – carrying Kat’s unconscious body between them. They were still morphed, but judging from the way Ronny was glaring at Simon, she was not impressed with his actions. Carefully, Weihan lifted Kat up onto a flat table – affectionately called the “Med-Bed” – and shook his head. A million and one thoughts were whirling in his head – and he didn’t know if he could control them.

He didn’t know if he wanted to control them – but the Rangers wouldn’t get far with only two members. He barely heard Ronny give the signal to power down, barely registered the flash, barely registered Ronny walking over to him, barely registered her holding him. As the first tears started to fall from his eyes, he could only think of one thing – one thought that stood out from all the others.

He had failed.

He had trained them endlessly, he had written every single training simulation program, he had recounted countless battle strategies, he had drawn up the schematics for their Powers, weapons and Zords…but in the end, it wasn’t enough. He had never trained them for this. Not even Ronny had this much experience with Rangers who didn’t work as a team. There had been Will of course, but his problem had been stamped out before it had hurt a team member. The only experiences he had with rogue team members had been at the start of the Elemental Ranger’s run. As he stared at Kat, lying on the Med-Bed, a mantra kept running through his head.

I could have stopped this. I should have stopped this.

As if she knew, Ronny placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. She remembered telling Tyzonne that even though they were the “good guys”, that bad things could still happen to them. That evil could win. Even if the evil was a team-mate gone rogue, evil still won. In her heart, she knew that Drakor had won the first battle – even though Dryken told them they won. He had flung Weihan’s greatest fears back into his face – the fear of Dryken, the fear of losing a team-mate and the fear of failure. Once, she had asked Weihan to tell her of the most horrific experience he had ever witnessed. She never forgot what he told her.

**Flashback**
“What I saw was not meant to be seen by eyes like mine. I had been flung into the future – far into the future. Into a future where Evil ruled the universe. This was before I had sought out for the rest of the Ultra Rangers.”

He paused, swallowing hard. He quietly willed up memories – memories that he had buried deep down inside him. Memories of a dimension where he had failed. He looked at the sympathetic face of Ronny next to him and sighed. His eyes glazed over slightly, as if he was looking at an event in the past. His voice was thick with emotions – mostly of sorrow and regret.

“Evil has seeped into every core aspect of the Universe. There were almost no pockets of resistance left. The Power Rangers had been destroyed. My search for a positron generator led me to Earth…or what was left of it. The forces of Evil had scoured the land…creating a floating brothel. Females of all species, races and ages were there – from children to old and weak. All of them were slaves to the Evil Empire. I spoke to a few of them and they told me that they believed that the Orange Knight would one day come back from his exile and release them from their suffering.”

He took in a shuddering breath, tears falling from his eyes. He made no moves to wipe them away – bearing them with an emotion akin to pride. Ronny felt tears welling up in her eyes as well. Before the Ultra Rangers had existed? He was 13 then…just a small boy exposed to horrors like these…

“After I had constructed my time hole generator, I felt as though I had to do something. Even though I was returning to my own time, I couldn’t let them live like this any more. I wasn’t sure if they would continue to exist – but I couldn’t take the chance. So…in front of the “believers”, I morphed. Something to give them hope, I guess. Then, the wailing started.”

Weihan was crying freely now, tears tracing new paths down his face. His shoulders were heaving with sobs. He could still hear the voices…all of them. Asking him to do one thing and one thing only. He slowly composed himself and spoke again. His voice was so soft, Ronny had to strain to hear it.

“They asked me to kill them. To destroy what was left of their lives. To destroy what was left of Earth. And I did that. I took up my Sabre and I killed them. All of them. They didn’t run or hide – they welcomed death. It took me seventeen hours to travel the Earth and kill everyone. Seventeen long hours filled with bloodshed, pain and death. Finally, there was one person left. She looked at me and took off my helmet. She looked at my eyes – as red and raw as they were – and said something that I’ll never forget. She told me that I had honoured their wishes. That I had shown extreme courage in taking up the task. That my tears were signs of emotion, bravery and honesty.”

Ronny stifled a sob. She had never thought that Weihan would be able to mercy-kill an entire planet. She wondered if she had been too quick to judge him. He wasn’t done yet. He continued in the quiet, strained voice.

“She told me to remember that day – not as a time of sorrow, but as a time of strength. When I had done a task that no one should ever have had to do. She told me to celebrate life, but to remember that darkness could still come in at any moment. Then, she took my Sabre and killed herself. She had the most peaceful look on her face as she did so, as though she could see something wonderful. Her last words to me were this – ‘Strength comes from both within and without’. And then she was gone.”
**End Flashback**

She knew that that experience had shaken him to the core. She knew that everything he did, he was driven by the images he had seen in the apocalyptic future. She saw him squeeze his eyes shut, trying to push back the tears she knew were beneath the surface. When he opened them, his eyes were wet, but he has a death look in them. Ronny kissed his cheek softly and nodded once. Weihan crossed the room and carried a chair over for her. They exchanged looks filled with concern and love, before Weihan abruptly turned – glaring at Simon fiercely.

Simon knew he was in trouble. He knew he didn’t help a team member, an action that could cause her death. He glanced over to the list of injuries she had sustained – broken ribs, arm broken in five places, hairline skull, neck and back fractures. Multiple lacerations to her torso, internal bruising, severe internal bleeding…the list was almost endless. But they were Power Rangers, for God’s sake! They were supposed to be able to beat the overwhelming odds alone – no matter what it took! That’s what it meant to be a Power Ranger, right? To fight on and know that your team could handle themselves without you? Anyway, the girl was a weak link. To be rid of her would be a good thing, right? He deserved to be the Black Ranger now – not the sissy Yellow that he was.

He was so absorbed in his thinking that he was startled when Weihan grabbed him by the back of his neck and threw him into the so-called “interrogation room” – which was a soundproofed room with one chair and a long metal table. He collided with the wall – barely missing the table’s razor sharp corner – and steadied himself. He watched as Weihan slammed the door and locked it.

When Simon spoke, his voice was firm, uptight and obnoxious.

“What’s the big idea? OK – I screwed up, but she knew the risks! She’s a weak link any –”

His protests were cut off as Weihan’s fist collided with his nose. He heard the sharp crack as the cartilage gave way, felt the piercing pain and felt blood gush from the wound. He gasped out as his enraged Commander lashed out with a kick to his stomach, doubling him over and forcing the air out of his lungs. Tears of pain leapt into his eyes as Weihan delivered the final blow – an uppercut that sent him sprawling onto his ass. When he spoke to the downed Ranger, Weihan’s voice was low and deadly.

“Ranger recruit Simon Carville, you have screwed up badly. Do you know why?”

Simon blinked back tears. He knew that it wasn’t his fault – that he was the best fighter out of all of them. He deserved the position as Red Ranger – or even Black Ranger! He shook his head in a “no” gesture, causing Weihan to lean down.

“You have fucked up because you did not look after your team-mate. You deliberately a ploughed through the enemy lines, not noticing that the Black Ranger was being overwhelmed. From the looks of it, you didn’t care that she was being overwhelmed. Not caring or showing concern for a team-mate is the worst mistake a Ranger can make. Do you have anything to say in your defence?”

Simon glared up at him. He knew he was in the right – it was Weihan who didn’t see his greatness. He was no weak link. He was as strong as the Orange Ranger – whoever he was. He gritted his teeth and spoke up in a pain tinged voice.

“Yeah, I do have something to say. She was a weak link. She couldn’t fight, she couldn’t call for help – she was the wrong person for that position. I wouldn’t have been overwhelmed – I would have been crushing them. I should be the Red Ranger. I’m no weak link. I make mistakes, but the worst mistake you, sir, have made is to not make me the Red Ran –”

Weihan removed his left foot from Simon’s ribs. He knew that Simon was still sore about not being Red, but he thought that he was over it. He stopped, there was more at stake here than Simon’s problem. The words “weak link” jumped out at him, making his eyes narrow in disgust. Simon thought that he wasn’t a weak link? All pretence of forced calm evaporated as soon as he opened his mouth. He was so glad the room was sound-proofed.

“You think you’re not a weak link? I beg your pardon, but you – sir – are the weakest link that I have ever had the displeasure of working with! You’re brash, you’re arrogant, you can’t even follow a simple order for crying out loud! Your team-mate is lying on the Med-Bed, critically injured! You could have stopped your one man wrecking spree to help her! Tell me, why should I keep you on the team?”

Weihan dropped his voice to a low hiss. He had enough problems already – and if Simon wanted to add to them, he would stop his attitude in his tracks.

“You don’t deserve to be any Ranger.”

Simon stopped cold at that statement. He struggled to raise himself on his feet, glaring at the Commander all the way. He didn’t have the authority to make that decision. From what he had read from the documents pertaining to the Ranger program, only the Orange Ranger – whoever he was – could authorise the firing of Rangers from the program. He wasn’t the weak link. He was the strongest link – if anything. He growled deep in his throat, before speaking in a voice that belied his anger and embarrassment.

“I. Am. Not. A. Weak. Link. Why am I a weak link? I have done nothing to be a weak link. I have supported the team by my superior fighting skills. You can’t force me off the team – only the Orange Ranger can do that. You are not the Orange Ranger. Sure, my attitude is high, but I’ve never had any complaints about it before. Suck it up, Commander, you can’t do anything about me.”

Weihan sighed. He didn’t want it to come down to this, but he had no other choice. He reached down inside him, searching for the link to his innate powers – his Ninjetti Power. The only Power that could withstand the continuous drain on his Crystal – other than his Fire Storm power. He barley registered the muted flash as he was instantly clad in his Orange Ninjetti suit – the cashmere-like material brushing lightly against his skin, the Crocodile in his Power Coin glaring balefully at Simon. He observed the look of absolute shock on the Ranger’s face, before slowly taking off his hood and mouth guard. He looked at Simon and gestured to himself.

“I can do something about you – since I am the Orange Ranger. The way I see it, you have one of two choices. Choice number one is this. You stop having this superior attitude – it’s getting you nowhere fast. Power Rangers help each other – not just themselves. We lean on each other – one day you’re going to have to lean on your team for help. You can’t save the world or the universe by yourself.”

Simon wanted to tell him to shove it – Ranger or not. It suddenly dawned on him why Weihan was so good at commanding Mekas – he had plenty of practice. Then again, he had heard that for the early days of his career, the Orange Ranger had worked on his own. From what he recalled, it was only after the Orange Ranger had appeared covered in blood that he had formed his team. He threw this back in Weihan’s face – hoping that he would acknowledge him to be the right man for the colour Red. Instead, Weihan nodded once and sat down on the table, avoiding the corners.

“Yes, it’s true. I flew solo in the first few weeks. In a way, I was much like you. I was arrogant and thought that just because I had these Powers, I could do whatever I liked. It took me going into a nightmare future that changed my way of thinking.”

Weihan’s eyes glazed over slightly. He didn’t want to relive what he had seen again, but he knew that it would be the best. It would teach Simon that he had to learn from other’s mistakes – to avoid repeating them himself. He spoke in a low voice.

“It was in the Spring of 1997 that I was catapulted to this future. I don’t know what caused it, but I found myself facing something I had never faced till that point – failure.”

Slowly, he recited all he had seen in that glimpse of the future – the way the buildings crumbled, the way Evil had swept through the Universe…even the way he had found each of the Power Rangers dead. He told of his horror at seeing the slum Earth had become, his curiosity of who the Orange Knight was and the grim determination that had possessed him to kill the abused women.

After an hour of talking, Weihan’s voice was raw with emotion and he bore the tears proudly again. He spoke of his dread at seeing the hovels the women lived in. He spoke of the admiration they felt for him in ending their pain. He railed over the injustice of that future – how the women were treated like animals and the men were experimented on. At the end, he looked at Simon – noting the pale look on the young man’s face. Weihan opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone.

“I knew then and there that – for all my Power and ability – I could not save the Universe by myself. The stories that I heard told of how I had gone into a fruitless battle that I could have won if I had a team. It forced into me the knowledge that – Yes, we are Power Rangers, but we can’t do everything on our own.”

Weihan slowly slid off the table, demorphing back into his Ranger Commander uniform. He had put that memory behind him – and learnt from it. He knew that the next time Dryken showed his snout on the battlefield, he would be there with his Rangers. Simon looked at him with new eyes. He was worthy of being Ranger Commander – he was sure of that now. He forced his aggressive attitude deep within him and locked eyes with the Orange Ranger. When he spoke, his voice held a note of respect that hadn’t been there before.

“Sir. I am deeply sorry for questioning you. I am ready to resume my duties as the Yellow Ranger. From this…talk, I have learnt that one of the best things for a Ranger to be is selfless – putting the lives of others above his or her own. I know that what I did was selfish and cruel. I realise that you were right when you called me the weakest link. If a team is only as strong as its weakest link, I will rectify that situation – starting now.”

Weihan nodded once. From the look in the young man’s eyes, he could see that he had changed immensely. There was honour, courage and deep loyalty in the twin green orbs – things that had been absent before. Weihan was sure that he was making the most of his second chance – but he had one more question to ask Simon.

“What about Katherine? Do you think she is worthy to be the second in command? And Ronny? Do you think she is fit to lead the Rangers into combat?”

Simon didn’t even hesitate one beat. His voice shone with confidence in his team-mates.

“Katherine is worthy to be second in command. She knows that she can lean on people for support. Ronny…she is way out of my league, but she is a fine commander. She is a good match for you, sir. She will make a truly inspiring leader.”

Weihan smiled – finally knowing that Simon was the best person for the Yellow Ranger position. He held out his hand and the two shook firmly. Weihan stepped over to the door and unlocked it. He opened the door and was treated to a remarkable sight.